The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for manufacturing components, in particular aircraft components, from a fiber-reinforced composite material.
In aircraft construction, efforts are being made increasingly to use components that comprise wholly or partially of fiber-reinforced composite materials, for example, glass-fiber- or carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic materials. For example, DE 10 2007 062 111 A1 describes a cross-member structure made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic material which serves to support the individual panels of an aircraft floor system for separating a passenger cabin from a cargo area arranged beneath the passenger cabin. Furthermore, it is known from DE 10 2004 001 078 A1, or CN 100418850, for example, to provide aircraft fuselage segments with a skin as well as reinforcing elements (e.g., frame, stringer) of fiber-reinforced composite materials.
In the production of aircraft components from fiber-reinforced composite materials, a multilayer laminate may first be constructed from fiber prepregs. The fiber prepregs may comprise a woven fabric or non-crimped fabric of reinforcing fibers, which are provided with a surface layer of a curable plastic material. The laminate may be constructed manually or in an automated manner, support and holding structures frequently being required in particular when producing components of complex shapes in order to bring the components into the desired shape. The plastic material applied to the surfaces of the fibers is finally cured in an autoclave cycle under pressure and/or elevated temperature, so that a composite material having a matrix of a cured plastic material and reinforcing fibers embedded into the matrix is formed.